


You and Me Relaxing Chilling

by thesunflowerchild



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Cute, Day At The Beach, Fluff, Jungwoo is super energetic, Mark and Donghyuck are twins, Self-Indulgent, Single Parent Lee Taeyong, Slice of Life, Taeil is chill, its just cute okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23583517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesunflowerchild/pseuds/thesunflowerchild
Summary: Lee Taeyong is a single father who needs a break. What better way to give himself and his eight energetic kids a break than going to the beach?or that one fic inspired by that one video of 127 at miami beach
Comments: 6
Kudos: 64





	You and Me Relaxing Chilling

**Author's Note:**

> i've recently been pretty depressed about everything go on... but the weather's been nice, so i've been going outside to write a lot, and one day i was watching [that video when 127 went to miami beach together](https://youtu.be/kdcJE-oqjw4) and i got inspired. so, i relied heavily on the video and my own personal experiences with the beach (i'm a beach baby, i was born like 12 miles from the coast, and we go a lot) to write this. i cranked it out in three days, and i think this is the longest fic i've written in that little amount of time, so tell me if it's crap.
> 
> i also just realized that none of my fics are really beta'd, but i make my sister read and critique them before i post them... so i guess my sister is kinda sorta my beta??? idk...
> 
> WELL, i actually love this one, and i think it's the cutest one i've posted so far, so... i hope you like it too. <3
> 
> things about this one:  
> \- this doesn’t take place in miami, just at a random beach  
> \- everyone’s hair colors are the same as they are in the video… yes, even baby donghyuck has silver hair. don’t question it, okay.  
> \- the title is inspired by UN Village by Baekhyun, and i listened to it a lot while writing it, so if you want you can listen to it while reading too  
> \- also, this is a long video, and I wanted to get everything in, so the story is long  
> \- i'm just gonna drop the the kids' ages for my own peace of mind: taeil (11), johnny (11), yuta (10), doyoung (10), jaehyun (8), jungwoo (7), mark & donghyuck (4)
> 
> tell me your opinions in the comments, and as always, be 100% honest, i want to know what you thought! (or you can come yell at me about it on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/thesunniechild))
> 
> enjoy! <3 <3 <3

Taeyong was _done_.

It was barely nine in the morning, and all of his children were running around like crazy - Jungwoo was busy chasing Doyoung, who was begging to be left alone, Jaehyun was chasing Jungwoo, because he wanted to play together, Johnny was harassing Yuta over a small game player, and the twins were up to their normal twin shenanigans, screams coming from the bathroom where Taeyong was pretty sure he heard water running and objects being thrown.

His current favorite child was Taeil, who was calmly reading a book in the corner, hidden in the ‘book nook’ he’d crafter earlier in the summer, using old curtains, his own blankets and pillows, and some fairy lights Taeyong didn’t need anymore. He’d enforced a strict summer reading rule for all his children in school, but Taeil was pretty much the only one who followed along, since he loved to read anyway.

Taeyong sighed deeply and got up from his spot in the corner of the couch, walking towards the hall.

“Everything okay, papa?” Taeil asked sweetly, peeking out from the light blue curtain with butterflies all over it. 

Taeyong smiled at his oldest, retracing his steps and crouching down to Taeil’s eye level, using the armrest of the couch as support. “I’m going to try to not yell at any of your siblings,” he said, lightly tapping Taeil’s nose.

The eleven year old giggled and scrunched his nose. “I’m being good, right?”

“You’re always good, my moon,” Taeyong ruffled his oldest’s hair before getting up, stretching, and turning around to address Doyoung, Jungwoo, and Jaehyun.

The three of them rounded the corner of the hallway, on their way to make their seventh lap through the kitchen. Doyoung fronted the line, his arms stretched in front of him, his face contorted and tears streaming down his cheeks. Behind him was a crazed Jungwoo, his arms also extended, yelling for his hyung to play, and behind _him_ was Jaehyun, tripping over his own feet, arms full of toys, yelling for Jungwoo to pay attention to him.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Taeyong said, stepping in the way. Doyoung ran right into him and immediately wrapped his arms around Taeyong’s legs, turning and hiding behind his father.

“Papa,” he wailed, peeking out just as Jungwoo also crashed into Taeyong’s legs and Jaehyun into his younger brother’s back.

“Woo,” Taeyong scolded gently, using his hands to lift Jungwoo’s head so his eyes would meet the blonde little boy’s. “Why are you chasing Doyoungie around?”

“I want to play!” Jungwoo exclaimed, his arms flapping wildly in the air, almost hitting poor Jaehyun in the face.

“Honey, Jae is chasing _you_ around because _he_ wants to play with you!” Taeyong sighed exasperatedly, catching Jungwoo’s arm as it once again nearly collided with the side of Jaehyun’s head.

Jungwoo’s eyes grew wide and he whipped around, coming face to face with his older brother. “Hyung wants to play with me?”

Jaehyun nodded wildly, holding up the various toys in his arms. “Play with me, Woo!”

Jungwoo turned his wide eyes back to Taeyong, who smiled with a sigh. “Apologize to Doyoung, and then you can go play - _calmly_.”

“Sorry, hyung,” Jungwoo said sincerely.

From behind Taeyong, a sniffle and a nod.

“Go on, now,” Taeyongs gently pushed Jungwoo in Jaehyun’s direction.

“Thanks daddy!” Jaehyun yelled, running off to his room, Jungwoo on his heels.

Taeyong sighed fondly and turned around to address his over-dramatic ten year old (well, both ten year olds were over-dramatic, but in _very_ different ways).

Doyoung was wiping tears from his cheeks and still frowning.

“Doie, you didn’t have to cry,” Taeyong crouched down again, looking the short boy in the eyes.

“But he was _chasing_ me!” Doyoung exclaimed, throwing his arms out. 

“He just wanted to play,”

“But I wanted to color by myself!”

“Doie-”

“Papa, he won’t stop bothering me!”

And there the waterworks go again.

“Oh baby,” Taeyong tried not to laugh as the black-haired boy leaned into his chest, sobbing his little dramatic heart out. “You need to calm down.”

Doyoung sniffled again and took his head out of his father’s neck, his face wet with tears, and nodded.

“How about you get your coloring things and join Taeil-hyung in the living room? It’s quiet and peaceful in there.”

The boy nodded and trudged his way up the hall into his and Yuta’s shared room.

“Oh boy,” Taeyong mumbled, hearing the next commotion he had to deal with. 

Johnny and his other over-dramatic ten year old son were bickering over a small game player (that actually belonged to Jaehyun), and Johnny was using every single physical advantage to Yuta in this fight.

“Hyung, _I_ was playing with that!” Yuta cried, stomping his foot as his giant brother held the small blue plastic device above his head.

“But _I_ asked for it!”

“But Jaehyun said _I_ could use it, not _you_ ,” Yuta growled, jumping up to try to reach Johnny’s hand.

“But _you_ had it for a long time!”

“But-”

“Boys,” Taeyong walked into the room, hand on his hips.

The protest died in Yuta’s throat as he looked at his father.

“Dad, Yuta isn’t sharing,” Johnny whined, bringing his hands down from holding the game player up.

“No, Johnny isn’t sharing!”

“Boys!” Taeyong not-quite yelled.

That shut them up.

“Give it to me.”

“Aw, but Dad,” Johnny tried.

It only took a firm look from Taeyong to have Johnny dropping the small blue toy in his waiting palm.

“Now, it doesn’t matter who was playing with it, it’s Jaehyun’s and neither of you should have it.”

“Dad, Jaehyun said I could play with it!” Yuta protested, ever stubborn. “Besides he’s playing with Jungwoo!” He finished his argument with a stomp to the ground, arms folded across his chest, frown deep and pout apparent.

“Yuta, I’m taking it away, and that’s the end of that.”

The shaggy-haired brunette huffed, glaring a hole into Johnny.

“Don’t look at your brother that way.” Taeyong sharply looked up at Johnny. “And you, get that smirk off your face - and get off the desk! What are you doing up there anyway!” Taeyong chided exasperatedly. He held a hand out to help Johnny back to the ground. “Now, Johnny, apologize to your brother for antagonizing him.”

“Sorry,” Johnny mumbled at the floor.

“What did you say?” Taeyong asked, using his finger to lift Johnny’s face so he was looking Yuta in the eye.

“I said, I’m sorry, Yuta.”

“And what do you say, Yuta?”

“I’m sorry too.”

“There you go,” Taeyong said, pleased. “Now, I have activities for the both of you.”

Yuta rolled his eyes and uncrossed his arms.

“Enough of that attitude, young man.”

“Yes Dad,”

“What are we doing, Dad?” Johnny asked innocently.

“Well, you're going to fold laundry, and Yuta is going to wash dishes!” Taeyong said excitedly.

Johnny groaned and sulked over to the laundry room, while Yuta’s eyes lit up and he happily scampered over to the kitchen to do his favorite chore.

Taeyong sighed once again in satisfaction, and turned to go deal with the last of the brouhahas his children were causing. Approaching the hall bathroom, he heard his two youngest boys screaming and laughing with each other.

Just as Taeyong walked over the threshold into the bathroom, Mark threw a shampoo bottle, accidentally hitting Donghyuck in the head, and the younger met Taeyong’s eyes for half a second before erupting in ridiculously loud screeches and sobs. Mark took one look at his crying twin and also burst into tears.

Taeyong sighed fondly (he was doing that a lot today) and muttered, “It’s always fun until someone gets hurt,” under his breath, scooping up his twins.

“Mama,” Donghyuck wailed, rubbing his eyes and flinging his face into the crook of Taeyong’s neck.

“Oh my loves,” Taeyong laughed, nuzzling the side of Mark’s face with his nose. He looked around the bathroom, and the bathtub was filled with shaving cream, bath salts, shampoo, conditioner, body gel, and _tons_ of bubbles. “What were you doing?”

“Hyuckie wanted to make tubby time soup,” Mark sniffled in his little four year old voice. He rubbed his nose with a tight fist.

“Tubby time soup?” Taeyong asked, amused. Tubby time was definitely the twins’ favorite time of day, and definitely Taeyong’s most stressful time of day. “Why didn’t you wait for Mama to make tubby time soup tonight?”

Donghyuck lifted his head and blubbered an incoherent answer, tears still flowing down his face.

“Mama didn’t understand that, sunshine.” Taeyong said, shifting the toddler in his right arm. “Okay, both of you are too heavy for Mama, so that means one of you has to get down.”

Mark let go of Taeyong’s neck and his father crouched down to set the small boy on the ground.

“Okay, baby,” Taeyong said, shifting Donghyuck in his arms. His youngest child sniffled and hid his face in the crook of Taeyong’s neck again.

Taeyong looked down as Mark shoved his little face between his knees, hugging so tight, if his father moved, he’d fall. Taeyong sighed. “You know what we need?” He looked at the tub, bubbles melting and dirtying the porcelain. 

“Let’s go to the beach,” he said, bouncing Donghyuck in his arms and ruffling Mark’s blonde hair. The toddler looked up with question in his eyes. 

Taeyong took the four year old’s hand and led him out of the bathroom and into the living room where Taeil and Doyoung were sitting next to each other, the older reading his book to the younger. Yuta, who’d already finished his chore, was sitting on the sofa, quietly listening to his hyung read. Johnny was sitting on the other sofa reading a book of his own, and Jungwoo and Jaehyun were calmly playing with Legos on the floor.

“Listen up, everyone.” Taeyong said as he put Donghyuck on the floor next to his twin. Eight little pairs of eyes looked up at him. “We’re going to the beach.”

Silence.

“Hmm,” Taeyong put his hands on his hips. “I’m taking you to the beach.” He empathized confusedly. 

“Why?” Johnny asked. “We were bad today,”

“I need a break, and I think you all need one too. So, we’re going to the beach.”

“Yay!” Jungwoo screamed, breaking the silence, jumping up and dancing around the living room. “We’re going to the beach, we’re going to the beach, we’re going to the beach,” he sang, wiggling his way over to Mark and grabbing his hands to dance with him. “We’re going to the beach!”

“The beach!” Jaehyun yelled, springing up and joining his brothers in dancing for joy. 

Taeyong grinned. “Alright, calm down now,” he said gently, catching Jungwoo by the forehead as he whizzed past. “Get ready. Put on some trunks and sandals, and meet me here in a little bit.”

As all the children - save the twins - jumped up and stampeded back to their rooms, Taeil got up slowly. “Papa,” he asked. “Can I take my book?”

“You don’t want to get in the water?” Taeyong looked down at his little brunette bookworm.

“Maybe when I’m finished,” Taeil said. “I’ll bring some trunks just in case.”

Taeyong nodded as Taeil trotted off in the direction of his room.

“Dad! What trunks should I take?!” Jungwoo yelled, flying back into the living room, throwing down three pairs of bathing shorts on the floor.

“Well, I think these are Yuta’s, and those ones are Hyuckie’s,” Taeyong grabbed the smallest pair. “And I’m pretty sure those blue-ish ones are-”

“Dad, where are my trunks?!” Johnny yelled from his room. 

“And mine!” Yuta followed.

“Where are yours, Jungwoo?” Taeyong gathered Johnny and Yuta’s trunks to take to them in a moment.

Jungwoo scratched his head. “Oh, are they the purple ones? With kinda flowers on them?”

“I think those are the ones.”

“The dryer ate those ones.” Jungwoo replied, his face completely solemn. “They’re gone forever.”

“Why were they- never mind. Jungwoo, just find some comfy pants, okay?”

“I’ll wear these, they’re super comfy!” The blonde boy gestured down to his jeans. 

“I- okay.” Taeyong grabbed Donghyuck’s hand and turned around. “Just wait here until your brothers are ready, okay love?”

“Yes, dad!”

Taeyong smiled and walked up the hall to his own room, stopping to toss Johnny and Yuta’s trunks into their rooms. “Okay,” Taeyong muttered to himself, walking into the twins’ room across the hall from his own. “Let’s get you two changed.” He quickly found Mark’s swimming trunks in the dresser and gave them to him, since he was much more capable of putting on pants than Donghyuck was. As soon as the twins were ready, Taeyong patted them on the heads and sent them out to the living room to wait with Jungwoo.

Taking a moment to breathe, Taeyong walked across into his own room and rummaged around in his closet for the bag with matching shirts in it. When he found it, he smiled in satisfaction. He dug his own shirt out of the bag, and then placed it on his bed, continuing to get ready for himself. After gathering everything - towels, sunscreen, blankets, extra towels, extra sunscreen, extra blankets - and stuffing it in an extra large tote bag with his name on it, Taeyong grabbed the shirt bag and headed down the hall where all his children were waiting.

“Okay my babies, one more thing.” He dumped out the shirts and tossed each one to its respective owner - helping Mark put his on, because he was much less capable of putting on shirts than Donghyuck was. “Alright, when we get there, I want Taeil to help put sunscreen on everyone.” Taeyong looked at his eldest and they both nodded in agreement. He looked around at his children - Doyoung and Yuta smiling their trademark smiles, Johnny holding Mark’s hand and swinging it lightly, Jungwoo absolutely vibrating with excitement, Jaehyun bouncing on his toes, and Donghyuck giggling happily - and clapped his hands.

“To the van!” He yelled, pointing exuberantly towards the window. The stampede of children raced ahead of him as he locked the front door, and he unlocked the van so they could pile in. Running over, Taeyong helped the twins strap in and threw his beach bag in the back. Taeil was sitting in the passenger’s seat when Taeyong got in, still reading his book. “To the beach!” Taeyong exclaimed, backing out of the driveway.

“The beach!” Jungwoo yelled in response. Taeyong watched in the rearview mirror as Jungwoo continued to chant, and Doyoung watched him with a judgemental look on his face.

When they got to the beach about an hour later, Taeyong found a parking spot and turned around to his excited kids. “Okay children, rules.” He clapped to get everyone’s attention. “No wandering off. Don’t go too deep in the water. Shirts stay on. No toys go near the water. The twins don’t go deeper than their chests _unless_ someone is carrying them. Someone holds the twins’ hands _at all times_. Understood?”

A chorus of agreements came in small voices and then they were off. 

As they walked down the sidewalk to get to the pier, Jaehyun was talking to himself, and Jungwoo was copying him, Donghyuck sneezed about seven times while holding hands between Johnny and Taeil, and Mark was singing to himself.

As they walked past a shop, Doyoung jumped up and down, pointing at the small store. “Papa, let’s go, let’s go!”

Taeyong hesitated, but he put his children’s excitement in lieu of his own sanity, and agreed. “Let’s go!” He turned into the store, all the while making sure they knew the buddy rule - _everyone_ held someone else’s hand.

Yuta held Donghyuck’s hand when they went in, heading straight for the sunglasses rack. “Hyuckie, these would look good on you,” the older said, placing some mirrored aviator glasses on his four year old brother. “I’ll get them for you,” he said more or less to himself, since Donghyuck was babbling to himself and looking in a totally different direction.

Doyoung and Taeil wandered off together, coming across an interesting-looking glass cylinder with a shark in it. “Papa,” Taeil called, excited. Taeyong, who was nearby, came over, his eyebrows raised in interest. “Is it real?” He asked innocently, his eyes huge.

Taeyong laughed, picking up the object. “I don’t think so, but it looks pretty realistic,” he confirmed.

Doyoung nodded enthusiastically. He grabbed Taeil’s hand again. “Hyung, let’s go, let’s go!”

Johnny held Mark’s hand as the toddler continued to sing, the both of them aimlessly wandering around the store, nothing of interest to either of them.

Jungwoo followed Jaehyun around, the both of them trying on hats and sunglasses and picking up random things from the shelves all around.

Finally, everyone was done, and they left to continue their trek to the ocean.

They skipped, danced, and sang their way to the beach, enjoying the sun and the breeze, stopping at vendors, talking with each other, until they reached the sand and together, they took off running across it to the ocean, whooping gleefully and unrestricted.

Taeyong found a nice spot not too far away from the waves to set up the umbrellas and blankets, and dumped all the things there. “Okay babies, let’s get sunscreened up, and then grab a buddy and go have fun!”

For the first time that day, every single one of Taeyong’s children waited patiently for their turn to be sunscreened, and then they were off, Jaehyun and Doyoung each grabbing a twin to hold to go into the water and Johnny and Yuta standing in the surf, happily splashing each other. Jungwoo rolled his jeans up past his knees and waded into the water as far as he could go without getting them wet, but ended up just joining his brothers in the sea, playing with the older two and caring for the younger two. Taeil had rolled his jeans halfway up his legs and taken off his shoes, and he was walking around in the white foam, only letting his feet get wet. Taeyong did the same, watching out for all his children as they had the time of their lives.

“You’re not going in, Tae?” Taeyong asked, watching his oldest crouch down to examine a burrowing crab in the sand just past the shore.

“No, papa, I just want to read. After getting my feet wet, of course.” Taeil answered back sweetly, following the crab as it made its way farther up the sand.

“Okay, love,” Taeyong responded, watching as Taeil happily made his way back to their shelter, digging out his book and settling down in the shade.

As Taeyong looked back out over the water, Jungwoo was wading back, his medium-wash jeans now dark indigo with water. He was holding Donghyuck, the small boy’s silver hair dripping.

“Here dad,” Jungwoo held Donghyuck out. When Taeyong took the youngest, Jungwoo lowered his head and shook the water and sand out of his hair like a dog. “He got wet and he wanted you.” Jungwoo gave Taeyong a big, wet hug. “I’m going back to play with Doie and Jae! Bye!” And with that, the energetic, blonde seven year old was running back into the ocean.

Taeyong laughed and turned to look at Donghyuck. “Hey my little sunshine,” he cooed. “Did you have fun with your hyungs?”

Donghyuck nodded enthusiastically and made grabby hands at the sand, silently asking to be let down. Taeyong put him down in the shallow water and the little one toddled over to sit in the waves. Donghyuck was enjoying his time, laughing and screeching and pointing at his hyungs deeper in the water, and Johnny and Yuta came over to play with him for a little bit before running out to join the four others in the chest-deep water. Taeyong squatted down, enjoying the spray on his face, and played a little bit with Donghyuck too. After a while, Donghyuck was just sitting there, splashing with the mud, when a rather large wave washed up and promptly knocked the tiny four year old over, his legs coming above his head as he fell backwards.

Taeyong laughed again and helped Donghyuck up just as Jungwoo came back, this time holding Mark. “Dad!” He yelled, putting the smaller blonde boy down, holding his hand, and helping him walk through the tall waves. “Mark wants Hyuckie!”

The slightly bigger twin ran to his silver-haired brother and body-slammed him with a hug.

“Bye again!” Jungwoo waved, once again running back to join the rest of his brothers who were jumping waves and yelling with each other.

Taeyong waved and watched as Donghyuck wrapped his short little arms around his twin, effectively picking the older up, and waddled into the surf with him.

This scene happened a few more times, before Mark broke loose from his twin and began running in the direction of Taeil and the little sun shelter Taeyong made. Donghyuck took off chasing him, fast as his little legs could go, and the twins ran circles around their eldest hyung - who didn’t seem to mind at all - before Donghyuck caught Mark and once again waddled back into the ocean with his twin in his arms.

Soon enough, Johnny and Yuta came wading back, tired of playing with their brothers who never seemed to run out of energy. 

“Dad, do you have any snacks?” Yuta called, shielding the sun from his eyes.

“I have some fruits in my bag,” Taeyong said as they walked back to the shelter. He glanced over his shoulder at the twins cheerfully throwing water at each other in the shallow waves. They’d be okay for a moment.

“Hi papa,” Taeil greeted, putting his book down.

“Hey honey,” Taeyong smiled back. He sat down and handed towels to Johnny and Yuta. “Spread them out in the sunshine and you can dry off while you eat,” he said to the two dripping boys in front of him. They nodded and put their towels down in a sunny spot relatively close.

“You hungry, my moon?” Taeyong asked, handing an apple to Taeil, who was watching his brothers in the ocean with a fond smile on his lips.

“Thanks, papa,”

“Of course. How’s your book?”

“Oh it’s great! I’m almost done already!”

Taeyong smiled. “That’s great, love. Well,” he said, getting up with apples in his hands for Johnny and Yuta, “I guess I’ll leave you to it,”

Taeil waved and went back to reading.

“Here, boys.” Taeyong tossed the apples to Johnny, who gave one to Yuta. “When we get home, I’ll make a proper meal.”

“Mama!” Mark yelled from the shore, holding hands with Donghyuck. “Me and Hyuckie are getting wet!”

Jungwoo waved at his father from next to the twins. “We’re going in a little bit!” 

Taeyong waved back. “Be careful!”

Jaehyun and Doyoung chased each other back up to the sand and back around, coming up to run around Johnny and Yuta, shaking water onto them and causing protests from the older two. Then, Doyoung chased Jaehyun back to the water, and pushed the younger, sending him with a splash into the water. The two of them swam out, Doyoung stopping to grab Donghyuck from Jungwoo, and then the five of them were back where they were a while ago, jumping waves and having a ball yelling and splashing at each other.

Taeyong smiled fondly, watching his boys have fun, and turned, walking back up to join Taeil in the shade. Together, they sat quietly, Taeyong enjoying the breeze and watching his children have fun, Taeil enjoying his book, curled comfortably in the blankets. Taeyong reached into his beach bag and fished out his bluetooth speaker, connecting his phone and playing his music. 

They stayed that way for at least another hour or two, and Johnny and Yuta had long since gone back out to play with their brothers in the ocean. When Taeyong glanced over at Taeil, the brunette had changed his position and was now reading another book, the previous one discarded on the side. 

“You sneaky sneak,” Taeyong teased, poking Taeil in the stomach. “You brought another book!”

Taeil giggled, curling in to protect himself from his father’s tickling pokes. “Yeah,” he said sheepishly. 

“Well, if you were planning on going back in the water again, you might want to do that now. It’s an hour drive home and we have to get the twins back before bedtime, and they need baths tonight, so that’s extra time. I’m thinking we’ll leave in a little bit so we can take our time.”

Taeil sat up, sighing. “I guess I can read on the way home.”

“There you go,”

“I’ll go play with the twins a little bit.” Taeil got up and flashed a smile at his father, running down the beach to the shore and hollering for his brothers to bring the twins in to play.

Taeyong watched as Doyoung and Yuta held the twins as they emerged from the waves, bringing the little boys to a very happy Taeil. The eldest boy rolled his jeans up a little bit more and crouched down to play with his youngest brothers. Taeyong grinned and busied himself with gathering Johnny and Yuta’s towels and putting them out for when they got out of the water. He set out the other towels for the others and began packing up. He carefully put Taeil’s books in the front pocket of his big beach bag, and shook out the blankets and folded them, putting them back in the bag. He grabbed the umbrellas and packed them up, and glanced around the area to make sure they didn’t leave anything behind.

Taeyong walked down to the shore, wiggling his toes in the sand. He stood next to Taeil and the twins - who were throwing mud at each other while Taeil stood with his feet in the water, watching them.

“It’s time to go, my loves,” Taeyong said, ruffling Taeil’s hair. “I packed up your books, so why don’t you help dry the twins off and wait for us up there?” Taeyong asked his oldest, to which he nodded and took the hands of the twins.

Taeyong turned to the ocean, where Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, and Jungwoo were still having a great time jumping waves. “Boys!” He shouted, his hands clasped in an ‘O’ around his mouth. “It’s time to go home!”

He chuckled when he heard the faint groans and the boys swam back to shore, taking their time.

“Daddy, that was fun!” Jaehyun yelled, shaking his arms. Taeyong tossed a towel at him while the rest of the boys came out of the water. 

“Dry off, boys. It’s time to go home.” Taeyong tossed towels at the rest of the boys and walked up the beach to where Taeil and the twins were waiting. Behind him, Doyoung and Yuta were walking together, drying their hair off in the towels, and Johnny was talking with Jaehyun, Jungwoo skirting around them in an attempt to be included in the conversation.

Together, the rather large family made their way back to the car, first stopping at the water towers to spray the sand off their feet - that just made the twins wet again after Taeil had managed to get them relatively dry - and then stopping at another vendor booth to get juice - Jungwoo got excited about that and ran into Taeil, spilling his juice all over his brother - and stopping to take pictures to remember the day - the only one who was properly looking at the camera was Johnny, but the pictures came out cute, so Taeyong didn’t care.

The hour-long drive was quiet, the boys having used up all their energy playing in the ocean. The twins were fast asleep holding hands, Jungwoo and Doyoung were resting their heads on each other, sleeping peacefully, and Johnny and Jaehyun both had their faces smashed against their windows. Yuta was quietly looking out the window, watching the scenery go by as they drove home. Even Taeil, who hadn’t done much, was nodding off in the passenger’s seat.

By the time Taeyong pulled into the driveway at home, everyone with the exception of the twins was awake and complaining of hunger.

“How does peanut butter and jelly sound?” Taeyong asked as he unlocked the door, stepping in and punching in the code to the small white security box on the wall.

“Peanut butter jelly time! Peanut butter jelly time! Peanut butter jelly time!” Jungwoo chanted, his never ending energy returning for the nth time that day.

Taeyong smiled and dumped the beach bag, sand spilling out of it, in the corner of the kitchen to be dealt with in the morning. He took the sleeping twins from Taeil and Johnny’s arms and quickly laid them down in their room, and came back to the kitchen to make dinner for the rest of his children.

“Eat up, my loves,” Taeyong said, placing a platter of sandwiches sliced diagonally in the middle of the table. He made extra, because he knew that all the boys could eat a lot more than normal due to the amount of energy they’d used up playing in the water. He set aside a few extra sandwiches for himself and the twins once they were bathed and then returned to the twins’ room.

“Wake up, my love,” Taeyong said softly, picking up Mark and cradling him to his chest. He gently rocked the small boy in his arms while said small boy yawned and blinked his eyes open. Once Mark was awake, Taeyong did the same with his twin.

“It’s tubby time,” Taeyong said, walking both sleepy boys to the bathroom.

“Tubby time!” Donghyuck squealed, jumping a little bit. 

“That’s right!” Taeyong cooed back. “It’s tubby time!”

To make a long story short, tubby time ended with Taeyong being absolutely soaked, covered in bubbles, and a bruise on his knee from slipping on some shampoo Mark had spilled over the side of the tub. Shortly after the twins were dried off, Taeyong brought them to the kitchen to eat their dinner and then took them back to their room to tuck them in.

“Goodnight, my little sunshine,” Taeyong smiled, kissing his youngest child on the forehead, tucking the covers around his small body. 

“Goodnight, my precious Markie,” Taeyong repeated with his second youngest child. 

“I love you, babies,” he whispered, flipping the light switch and gently closing the door.

Walking down the hall, Taeyong heard giggling coming from Yuta and Doyoung’s room. “What’s going on in here?” He asked as he walked in, watching the two ten year olds roll by on the floor.

“Daddy, Doie and Yuta are fighting!” Jaehyun laughed, wrapping his arms around his stomach and flopping over in a fit of giggles on Doyoung’s bed.

“Okay, you two,” Taeyong smiled, prying the two boys on the floor apart. “It’s time for bed.”

Doyoung and Yuta looked at each other and burst into laughter, hugging each other and spinning around the room before falling on the ground and laughing some more.

“Jae, it’s time for bed, why don't you say goodnight to your brothers.” Taeyong said, stringing his fingers through Jaehyun’s red hair.

“Yes, daddy,” he sang, scampering over to Yuta to hug him, then moving on to Doyoung to do the same.

“Alright, honeys, bedtime.” Taeyong said. He kissed the two boys and hugged them goodnight. “I love you,” he whispered as he left the room.

When he walked into Jaehyun and Jungwoo’s room, the younger was completely conked out, laying sideways on his bed, not yet showered, still in his wet and sandy jeans. Jaehyun was laying on his bed, reading a comic book he’d saved up his allowance to buy the week before. Taeyong was pretty sure this was about the fifth time Jaehyun was reading it, but he didn’t honestly didn’t care.

“Goodnight, my love.” Taeyong kissed the top of Jaehyun’s head. “Don't stay up too long.” The boy nodded and responded with a ‘goodnight’.

Taeyong then went over to Jungwoo and ruffled his stringy hair. “Goodnight baby.”

And last but not least, Taeil and Johnny. The eldest was under his covers, comfortably reading out loud to Johnny, who was curled up on his side under the covers on his own bed.

“I love you boys,” Taeyong said, kind of too lazy to go into their room and give them kisses. It was okay. They knew he loved them with all his heart, so this wouldn’t be terrible. “Goodnight,” he said, flipping the light switch.

“Goodnight papa,” Taeil responded, putting his book down. 

“Night, dad,” Johnny mumbled, already half asleep.

Taeyong shut the door softly and sighed, the exhaustion finally getting to him. He shuffled back to his room and collapsed on his bed, too tired to change into his night clothes. He lifted the covers and curled underneath them, smiling to himself about the day.

It was good. Had he not thought about going to the beach, it would’ve most likely ended in yelling and probably lots of tears. But going to the beach had swerved an inevitable catastrophe. 

It was good.

So Taeyong fell asleep with the beautiful memories of his beautiful children replaying themselves in his brain like dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos & comments = me happy  
> me happy = me want to write more  
> me write more = you happy  
> you happy = kudos & comments
> 
> repeat :)


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